


A Marriage Of Inconvenience

by Suzie_Shooter



Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Accidental Marriage, First Time, Hand Jobs, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-05
Updated: 2014-01-05
Packaged: 2018-01-07 13:55:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1120653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suzie_Shooter/pseuds/Suzie_Shooter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for a prompt of "accidental marriage". Alex discovers that ignorance of local customs can get you into all kinds of trouble...</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Marriage Of Inconvenience

Firelight flickered over the motley gathering of people sitting outside the huts; eight men of varying nationalities in camouflage gear, two local guides, and the inhabitants of the native village they happened to be resting in. 

The job was over and the mood was one of celebration - after a few seat-of-the-pants moments it had eventually ended well. Significant assistance from the tribespeople had proved the tipping point; fed up with the murderous tactics of the drug runners Yassen's team were up against, they'd proved surprisingly amenable to assisting them.

Alex slipped between the shadows, grinning and euphoric. It had been his first mission as a full and proper part of the mercenary team, and he'd acquitted himself with distinction. Well, he hadn't majorly fucked up anyway, and the rest of them had seemed happy enough with his performance.

He dropped down beside Yassen, close to the bonfire. Made bold by the smile of welcome he received, Alex lifted the cup out of Yassen's hands and took a sip. It was chocolate, darker and spicier than anything he was used to, and coated his lips with a pleasing tingle.

Yassen gave him an amused look as a nearby group of village women collapsed into howls of laughter.

"What?" Alex looked bemused. "What did I do?"

Yassen shook his head. "Nothing." The laughter was persistent though, and Alex jumped as one of the girls produced a garland of flowers from somewhere and draped it round his shoulders.

"Um. Thank you?" He watched as they decked Yassen out in a matching one, and danced around in considerable merriment.

"What are they saying?" Alex had a decent grasp of Spanish, but this dialect of the deep jungle was beyond anything he could catch. Yassen seemed able to speak it though, and Alex nudged him. "Seriously, what am I missing?"

"You don't want to know." Yassen still looked like he was trying not to laugh, and when they were both presented with a fresh cup of chocolate accompanied by much giggling, Alex sighed. 

"Tell me."

"Fine. It's the cocoa. It's an ancient marriage custom."

"But they're all drinking it," Alex frowned.

"They're all drinking their own," Yassen corrected. "Sharing a cup is apparently a sign of - well. Devotion. Lasting - devotion."

"Are you saying we just got married?" Alex asked flatly. Yassen looked at him with a commendably straight face.

"I'm not. They are."

By now some of the other men had picked up on what was going on and started mocking them. Yassen ignored it, giving them no more satisfaction than a roll of the eyes, but Alex's face was burning red and they homed in on it like sharks scenting blood. The ribbing they delivered was ultimately good natured, but it was crude and increasingly graphic and Alex hardly knew where to look.

When the girls from the village grabbed his hands and pulled him up he was grateful - until he realised that he and Yassen were being shepherded towards a hut on the edge of the village. They were pushed inside by a grinning woman who said something to Yassen with a toothy, knowing grin before shutting them in.

"What did she say?" Alex asked, not at all sure he wanted to know the answer. 

Yassen looked at him. "Private, I think would be the closest translation," he said impassively. "Or secluded. Or - not easily overheard."

"Oh God." Alex sat down on the beaten earth floor and put his head in his hands. "I'm so sorry."

Yassen smirked. "That bad huh?"

"What?" Alex looked up, following Yassen with his eyes as he went to light the little rush lamps arrayed in niches around the walls, until the room glowed cosily. 

"Being married to me?"

Alex frowned. Yassen's back was to him, and he wished he could see his face. It was hard at the best of times to tell when he was joking. And he had to be. Didn't he?

"I - I didn't say that," Alex stuttered. "I just - I mean - you can hardly be that impressed with it."

"Why would you think that?" Yassen started sorting through a pile of rugs and furs and Alex only realised he'd spread them into a bed when he sat down on them, leaning back against one of the roof props. 

"Well, you're not - I mean - you know." Alex faltered. Now he came to think about it, he had no idea what Yassen might be into. He'd never seen him with a man, but then he'd never seen him with a woman either come to that. "Are you?" he asked curiously.

Yassen just looked at him, and Alex squirmed uncomfortably. "Sorry. None of my business."

"Very much your business, I'd have said," Yassen said quietly. "Given that we appear to be married and all that."

Alex laughed. "You're not serious." He looked at him, and swallowed uncertainly. "You are serious?"

"Wouldn't want to insult them, after everything they've done for us," Yassen said with a smile. He stretched out on the rugs and yawned. "You coming to join me, or - ?"

"What?" Alex's stomach was doing somersaults.

Yassen looked over at him and sighed. "I'm not going to pounce on you, if that's what you're worried about," he said and Alex flushed. "I just thought you might be more comfortable over here than spending the night on the floor."

"Oh. Right. Um." Alex crawled over and gradually wriggled his way into the bedding next to Yassen. 

He'd just got settled when Yassen murmured, "Unless you wanted me to, anyway," and he froze. 

"What?"

"Well, I'm just saying. You must have followed me in here for some reason."

"I wasn't aware I had a choice," Alex muttered indignantly.

"You think any of the other guys out there made the same mistake you did, they'd have come in here without a word of complaint?"

"Well why did _you_ go along with it then?" Alex demanded.

"Maybe I wanted to see what you'd do," Yassen smiled, folding his hands behind his head and closing his eyes.

Alex huffed and stared at him for a moment. He realised that Yassen had essentially made his position clear, and left it up to Alex to indicate if he wanted to take it any further. Which was in no way fair. He coughed awkwardly.

"Well, I, er, I guess - a little, um, a little pouncing wouldn't hurt?" Alex muttered.

Yassen opened one eye and looked at him. "Really?"

Alex glared at him, irritation pushing back the embarrassment for a second. "Yes, really, stop being a dick."

Yassen sat up again and shrugged. "I didn't want you to feel I was trying to push you into anything, that's all."

"And in no way were you trying to embarrass me," Alex accused scathingly.

Yassen lightly brushed the hair back from Alex's face, making him catch his breath at the unexpected touch.

"Maybe a little," Yassen confessed under his breath, mouth close to Alex's ear. "But only because you're beautiful when you blush."

Alex jerked back far enough to be able to look at him, surprise and suspicion thawing into a wary trust as he absorbed the fact that Yassen apparently wasn't joking.

Yassen took one of Alex's hands in his, thumb rubbing slowly across Alex's knuckles. Alex found his fingers curling instinctively into the touch, his heart beating faster with anticipation.

"I want you." Yassen's voice was low, and promised things that made Alex lick his lips nervously, already getting hard.

"I - I've not - " Alex stumbled over his words, cursing his own inexperience and inability to just let go, no matter how much he wanted this. But Yassen shook his head slightly, moving his hand to cup Alex's cheek.

"I want whatever you'll allow," Yassen said quietly. "As much or as little as that is."

Alex smiled shakily, nodding his understanding and his agreement. Yassen studied him for a moment longer, looking into his eyes for confirmation before leaning forward to kiss him.

The press of his mouth was firm and sure, and Alex had parted his lips before he knew what he was doing, letting Yassen lick into his mouth with a possessive pleasure. Alex made a noise close to a whimper in the back of his throat, his fingers clenching in the material of Yassen's shirt.

Yassen pulled him closer, into his arms and Alex closed his eyes, giving himself up to the kiss that followed. By the time Yassen released his mouth again Alex was breathless and his dick awkwardly rigid in his trousers. He shifted position, then gasped as Yassen placed a hand between his legs, cupping him meaningfully. 

"You don't waste any time, do you?" Alex managed.

"Life's too short." Yassen kissed him again, moving his hand purposefully along the line of Alex's erection.

"Fuck." Alex broke off from the kiss but buried his face against Yassen's neck, trying to catch his breath. When Alex made no further objections, Yassen continued stroking him through his trousers, enjoying the way he could feel Alex shuddering slightly against him.

After a while he unfastened Alex's fly, unzipping him slowly and letting his hand slide inside. Alex groaned as warm fingers closed around his cock, making him throb with helpless desire.

It belatedly occurred to him that he should probably be doing the same for Yassen, and fumbled blindly at the other man's crotch. His fingers brushed the swell of Yassen's own erection and Alex gave an inadvertent squeak of surprise.

Yassen laughed. "You might want to look what you're doing," he murmured, kissing Alex's neck. 

"Shut up," Alex muttered, making him laugh again, but this time Yassen sat back and let Alex undo his belt and unzip him without interference.

Head bowed over Yassen's lap, and unconsciously biting his lip, Alex carefully drew Yassen's cock out of his clothing. Hoping Yassen didn't notice the way his hand was shaking, Alex started stroking him, slow and sensual. Yassen murmured wordless approval, letting his hands slide down the planes of Alex's back and burrowing under his shirt to touch bare skin.

Alex jumped a little and laughed, leaning back to let Yassen lift the t-shirt off over his head and reaching out to return the favour.

With their shirts discarded, Alex leaned back into Yassen's body, giving in to a long-held urge and kissing his way down his chest, lips pressed against the warm skin and curls of hair, mouth pausing over one of his nipples, tongue flicking out and grazing lightly with his teeth. 

He'd fantasised about doing this practically every time he'd seen Yassen take off his shirt, and it crossed his mind now that possibly he hadn't been as discreet about looking as he thought he had. Still, too late to worry about it now, with Yassen's hand back on his cock. Alex groaned, working his way back up to reclaim Yassen's mouth.

They took off the rest of their clothes and lay down together, drawing the rugs over their nakedness and twining together. Underneath, Alex gasped at the feeling of being pinned, and at the thick, warm length of Yassen's cock sliding between his thighs. 

After a few minutes of increasingly heated kisses and caresses, Alex realised Yassen had a wrapped a hand around his own shaft, obviously steadying himself to push into Alex's body.

"No, wait," Alex breathed, tensing with sudden alarm and hardly knowing if he'd managed to say it out loud. The rush of blood in his ears and the hammering of his heart seemed to drown out everything else, and it took him a good few seconds to realise that Yassen hadn't moved, was just watching him patiently. Alex took a steadying breath, and realised too that Yassen had started carding his fingers through Alex's hair, a comforting rasp of fingertips against his scalp.

"Alex?" he prompted quietly and Alex realised Yassen was waiting to see if he'd just needed a moment, or actually wanted to stop. He swallowed, licking dry lips.

"I don't - I don't think I can," he whispered. To his relief Yassen just nodded and moved back a little, his cock slapping up against his stomach as he rolled away from Alex's legs. Yassen settled back down at Alex's side, drawing him closer until they were pressed body to body.

"Better like this?" Yassen murmured, and Alex nodded gratefully, opening his mouth to apologise but Yassen was kissing him again, this time more gently, and somehow by the time he'd finished it didn't feel like Alex needed to say anything.

This close he could feel Yassen hard against his belly, but now the moment of panic had passed it felt good again. Alex moved against him, sliding his own cock along the length of Yassen's and feeling him smile against his lips.

"You want to come?" Yassen's voice was low and throaty with arousal, but it was apparently a serious question and Alex gave him a dazed smile.

"Yes."

Yassen slid a hand between them, palming them both with a rapid, rough movement that had Alex moaning helplessly in shocked pleasure. The combination of Yassen's hard cock pressed against his, and the calloused hand jerking him off was too much and Alex came in seconds, too gone to care about the mess as he spurted over his stomach and chest.

With a final shuddering breath, his eyes half-closed in ecstasy, Yassen followed suit, shooting a thick load over Alex's chest and throat. When it was over he gazed down at Alex, taking it all in and looking for a moment almost feral in the flickering lamplight before finally relaxing, rolling onto his back and sighing with satisfaction. 

"You look good like that," he commented.

Alex made a face. "Yeah. Thanks," he said weakly, and Yassen laughed, sitting up again.

"Come here." He fetched a handkerchief from the pocket of his trousers and cleaned Alex up as best he could. Caught Alex's eye and had the decency to give him a guilty smile. "Sorry."

Alex sighed, smiling back reluctantly. "There is no way in hell I'm telling you that was fucking hot," he muttered, looking away, and Yassen's grin widened.

"I'll bear that in mind." 

Yawning, they settled down together to go to sleep, companionably close but not quite touching. It was starting to dawn on Alex that the fact he'd just slept with someone who was technically his commanding officer might make things a little weird. Not to mention the fact he appeared to have accidentally married him. Alex fell asleep still turning it over in his head, without reaching any conclusions that made sense.

\--

The next morning Alex woke to find he was snuggled into the warmth of Yassen's body, one arm thrown over his stomach. He blinked sleepily, then realised Yassen was awake and scooted backwards, clearing his throat. Yassen just smiled and proceeded to get up and start getting dressed as if nothing had happened.

"So - now what?" Alex asked tentatively, pulling his own clothes on hastily. 

"How do you mean?" 

"Well, are we - what are we?"

Yassen looked down at him, frowning slightly. "What do you want to be? Colleagues? Friends?" He hesitated the briefest amount before adding, "lovers?"

"I meant about the whole being married thing," Alex retorted, scrambling to his feet. He didn't like the feeling of being at a disadvantage when Yassen was looming over him.

Yassen laughed. "I don't know how much legal weight Amazonian tribal customs hold in the outside world," he offered. Alex frowned.

"Still. You said - " he faltered, suddenly unsure of himself.

Yassen came over to him, looking bemused. "Alex - you do get that they were joking, right?"

"I - what?"

"I mean - these people aren't daft. They knew perfectly well you had no idea of the significance of what you'd done. They thought it was _funny_ Alex, they were teasing us just as much as our guys were."

Alex stared at him speechlessly, and Yassen looked back.

"What?"

"You - mean we're not - " Alex bit his lip, feeling horribly, dizzily stupid. 

"Married? No, of course not." Yassen's amused expression faded a little as he took in Alex's pale, tight face. "You didn't seriously think - "

Alex didn't let him finish, just pushed past him and out into the sunlight. 

"Alex! Alex, hey, wait!" Yassen followed him out but Alex was already marching off into the distance. "Shit." He sighed, and started after him more slowly.

Yassen found him down by the river, splashing water over his face and arms. Yassen stayed back a little, leaning against a tree.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, once he was sure Alex knew he was there. "It wasn't my intention to humiliate you."

"What was your intention then?" Alex said stiffly, without turning round. "I mean, what the fuck was that? All that guff about being married and not wanting to insult them?"

Yassen shrugged. "It was as convenient an excuse as any to cover the fact I was essentially trying to establish if you wanted to sleep with me. Especially in front of a bunch of hairy-arsed ex-marines who might have taken exception to it. I honestly didn't realise you believed it." 

Alex stood up and slowly faced him. Yassen spread his hands. "What do you want me to say Alex? Did you seriously only screw me because you thought we got married?" He smirked. "Are you that upset that we're _not_?"

"Oh - fuck off." Alex brushed past him and stalked off through the trees to where the rest of the company were eating breakfast. 

He was greeted with catcalls and laughter, together with a certain amount of graphic speculation. 

"Hey kid, sure you can sit down okay this morning?" somebody called out amidst a lot of sniggering. Alex reached for some fruit, aware of Yassen coming over to join them.

"Not me you want to be asking," Alex retorted with a blank face. He wondered how wise it was to be implying such a thing, but the men loved it and howled with laughter.

"That true Gregorovich?" somebody asked. Alex winced inwardly, but Yassen just shrugged.

"Anyone got a cushion?"

More laughter, and Alex relaxed a little, as Yassen took a seat on the bench next to him. He glanced sideways at him, and offered a tiny smile of apology as Yassen caught his eye. Yassen smiled back, and Alex felt the brief, comforting touch of a hand at the small of his back.

They'd been served more of the chocolate, Alex realised, staring into the cup that had been placed in front of him. He picked it up and closed his eyes briefly. It smelt warm and rich and he realised how hungry he was. Alex took a sip, and then opened his eyes in surprise as he felt a hand covering his.

Holding Alex's eyes the whole time, Yassen took the cup from him and slowly and deliberately took a sip from it himself.

Something warmer than the drink uncurled in Alex's stomach as he took in the significance of the gesture. Yassen was watching him, waiting to see what he'd do. 

Unsuccessfully trying to hide the smile tugging at his lips, Alex took the cup back and turned it slightly, so his next sip was from the exact spot Yassen's mouth had touched.

He lowered the cup and looked up shyly, suddenly conscious of the fact at least half the table was watching this play out, with associated lurid commentary. But Yassen was smiling at him, and suddenly Alex didn't care. He smiled back and laughed, feeling somehow lighter.

Conversation turned to other things, and Yassen's attention was taken up with a discussion on their best route back out of the jungle, but under the table his leg was pressed up against Alex's, and gradually, taking it in turns without ever referring to it, they finished the rest of the chocolate between them.

\--


End file.
